Incredible New Obama Ad Tries to Prove Romney Misquoted Obama…by Playing the Exact Quote Romney Used

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In less than 24 hours, Team Obama has responded to the Romney campaign’s devastating “These Hands” ad with a video accusing the former Massachusetts governor of “saying anything” to get elected. But just wait until you see see what they use as the evidence.

The ad, titled “Mitt Romney: Saying Anything to Get Elected,” begins with a clip of Governor Romney quoting the president as saying, “If you got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

The video then splashes these words across the screen: “The only problem? That’s not what [Obama] said.”

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.

Enjoy:

So, wait. What do they mean by “That’s not what he said”? Sure they can argue about context, but that’s still exactly what the president said:

It seems that the video wants to argue that Romney is guilty of “saying anything” to get elected because, um, he quoted the president. We’re not entirely sure how this works.

Final thought – Now, we’ve already addressed the president’s “ham-fisted” populist remarks and we’ve already noted that he’s not entirely incorrect when he says society plays a role in individual success. But, come on, somebody in the Chicago Machine must understand these prepared remarks come off as insulting, inflammatory, and abrasive, right?

Final Thought II — Isn’t it a little odd that the Obama team is accusing Romney of “saying anything”? Consider: It’s coming from the same team that in 2008 promised U.S. voters that the nomination of Barack Obama would mean “care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless,” that the oceans would stop rising, that our planet would be healed, that we’d secure our nation, and restore our image as the last, best hope on Earth?

Yeah, we still remember that speech.

UPDATE: One more point and then we’re finished [we swear].

The Obama ad claims Romney agrees with the president when he says “somebody along the line gave you some help” and that “you couldn’t have a business without [infrastructure].”

From there, we’re supposed to conclude that because Romney will attack the president even over issues they both agree on, he’ll say anything to get elected.

But in accusing the former Massachusetts governor of taking the president out of context, the Obama campaign takes Romney out of context. This is what he actually said [emphasis added]:

He said this: “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” That somebody else is government, in his view. He goes on to describe the people who deserve the credit for building this business. And, of course, he describes people who we care very deeply about, who make a difference in our lives: our schoolteachers, firefighters, people who build roads. We need those things. We value schoolteachers, firefighters, people who build roads. You really couldn’t have a business if you didn’t have those things.

But, you know, we pay for those things. Alright? The taxpayers pay for government. It’s not like government just provides those to all of us and we say, “Oh, thank you government for doing those things.” No, in fact, we pay for them and we benefit from them and we appreciate the work that they do and the sacrifices that are done by people who work in government. But they did not build this business.

That’s a little different from simply agreeing with the president, wouldn’t you agree? But, again, what was the point of the Obama video? Oh, that’s right: if you take someone out of context, you’re totally willing to say anything to get elected.